Search in:

Too tired to cook balanced meals

THERE has been much debate about the role that diet and lifestyle play in our health (''Diet or die: lifestyle changes could hit cancer'', The Age, 19/3). Obesity in adults and children has increased markedly over the past decade due to sedentary lifestyles and the increased reliance on sugary, fat-saturated ''fast foods''.

Busy people, especially working mothers, find it easier to buy something for a meal after a tiring working day. It takes great discipline to prepare, cook and clean up after a meal when you are tired. Education is needed to show the benefits to everyone's health of providing a well-balanced meal that is inexpensive but needs time and effort.

Physical activity is also a must in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Most people don't walk enough; children are driven to school; homes now have small backyards so children do not have the same outside activities as in the past; and activities are centred on computer games.

Glenise Michaelson, Montmorency

Advertisement

Writing on wall for meat

THE writing is on the wall: Australians' excessive meat consumption can't continue (''Huge study shows red meat boosts risk of dying young'', theage.com.au, 13/3). The study mentions the health benefits of eating less meat, such as reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. Substituting nuts for red meat results in a 19 per cent decrease in risk of premature death. Former US president Bill Clinton is a good advertisement for a plant-based diet: he lost weight and reversed his heart disease. He looks much healthier.

Further, the incidence of type II diabetes - largely preventable by good diet and exercise - is skyrocketing. Saturated fat is a major culprit, and there's plenty of it in meat. Finally, there's the environment. According to the UN report Livestock's Long Shadow, livestock contributes 18 per cent of global greenhouse gases.

Suzanne Pope, Morris, South Australia

Halt animal suffering

REPORTS from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development rank Australia as the world's fifth-fattest nation. Here's something for people to chew on: vegans are nine times less likely to be obese than meat-eaters. Eating vegan meals has been scientifically proven to take weight off and keep it off for more than a year.

The 60 per cent of adult Australians defined as overweight or obese can lose weight and dramatically improve their health by replacing sausage rolls and meat pies with veggie kebabs. Because meat, eggs and dairy products are devoid of fibre but loaded with artery-clogging saturated fat and cholesterol, eating plant-based meals slashes the risk of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and cancer.

And the meat industry isn't just toxic for human health - it's also responsible for animal suffering on a massive scale. On today's factory farms, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy, windowless sheds.

Ashley Fruno, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Australia

Public despairs of state's tunnel vision

PRODDED to explain how it will invest in productive infrastructure, the Baillieu government has transported us to Wonderland (''Infrastructure delivery 'too slow, over budget''', The Sunday Age, 18/3). How will we revive the state economy again? By building an east-west road that loses 50 cents for every dollar spent on it; by building a train line to an airport with half a dozen flights a day; and by building a new CBD rail tunnel when we've barely made use of the extra capacity potential of the 1970s City Loop.

Where are the plans to fix the real bottlenecks that frustrate Victorians daily? Where is the investment program to eliminate railway level crossings? To reform operating practices that waste capacity on the train system and leave crowded trams and buses waiting at red lights? To better equip our rail system to handle freight as well as passengers outside peak hour?

Productivity is about more than adding to road capacity so that operators can keep freight on the road longer to save on warehouse space. Primarily it's about making the best use of assets while encouraging innovation, and right now it's our public transport system that could use it the most.

Tony Morton, Public Transport Users Association, Melbourne

Poor left to suffer

THE Coalition government's refusal to act on the issue of dying with dignity won't necessarily affect their constituency. The better-off usually have the money to either shop around for doctors willing to assist, or to travel to Switzerland to get assistance to die with dignity. Similarly with abortion - the rich could get the services they wanted or travel to where the law suited them. But those without resources are dying with intolerable suffering.

Janine Truter, The Basin

Drawcard leaves permanent legacy

MUCH is made about the grand prix ''putting Melbourne on the map''. However, having just come back from visiting MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in Hobart, I have seen what a real world-class attraction can do for a city. It is an amazing building, with a surprising and provoking art collection that provides an unforgettable experience. In the city, there was an all-round buzz due to the numbers of visitors.

At a reported cost of $150 million, MONA is a bargain. A similar museum in Melbourne would be paid off in three years if given the sort of subsidy the grand prix gets.

As the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, has proved, these investments pay off handsomely and leave a permanent cultural legacy for the people of the city for many years to come.

George Fernandez, Eltham North

Racegoers pay twice

ANDREW Zagdanski (Letters, 17/3) laments the cost of attending the grand prix. Perhaps he's forgotten that we are subsidising this year's race to the tune of an estimated $800 of taxpayer's money for every person who attends the race. In effect, Mr Zagdanski is paying twice to attend.

That might not trouble him, but what about the rest of us taxpayers who heartily dislike the wastefulness of this race? The only person who makes money out of the grand prix is Bernie Ecclestone.

Chris Burgess, Port Melbourne

Line up for freebies

ANDREW Zagdanski highlights the freebies given to ''celebrities'' while long-standing fans are left standing - and not too comfortably. I'm always disappointed that opening-night seats for live shows and movies are filled by people who could more than afford to pay for them. With most theatre shows costing $100-plus per seat and very little discount for children, where are the next generation of theatre-lovers coming from?

Perhaps the opening-night regulars could be persuaded to donate the value of their seat to a fund that would subsidise performances for those who would not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the magic of live theatre.

Rose Cooper, Ocean Grove

Don't wait too long

TWICE on Saturday I encountered the beautiful prose of William Blake, first in the lyrics of a song on Radio National's Music Show and then in the article by Martin Flanagan about his parents (''Return to the paradise of childhood among angels'', Forum, 17/3). Too often we fail to express what our parents mean to us while they are alive; instead we prefer the homily when they are gone.

Some years ago I read an article talking about the joy the author's parents got from a letter he wrote them. He simply acknowledged his parents and their sacrifices and contribution to his life. As a result I wrote to my mother (Dad was already deceased) to express similar sentiments. I never imagined the joy it would bring her. Ten out of 10, Martin.

Kerry Larkan, Mentone

Tenacity pays off

AS ONE of Victoria's midwives who was not willing to cave in to attempts to dismantle ratios and water down nursing expertise, I want to say a heartfelt thanks to all my colleagues, and the public whom we serve, for their tireless campaigning and incredible tenacity.

Improvements still need to be made regarding ratios: two midwives are still expected to care for three women in labour, but at least we didn't go backwards. It just goes to show that despite what the neo-conservatives would have us believe, collective action and a unionised workforce are alive and well. And we are fighting for what is good and proper for all.

Maxine Hardinge, Balaclava

Confusing claims

THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's charter includes a provision prohibiting conduct "that is misleading or deceptive". It says: "If the overall impression left by an advertisement … or other representation made by a business creates a misleading impression in your mind - such as to the price, value or the quality of any goods and services - then the conduct is likely to breach the law."

How is it, then, that according to weekend auction results, a house in Fitzroy North advertised at between $600,000 and $660,000 was declared "on the market" at $680,000? Surely this is a breach of the law.

Jill Rosenberg, Caulfield South

Excessive burden

THE Climate Institute report says our carbon price is not excessive compared with Norway and Britain (''Australia fails carbon test'', The Age, 19/3). But Norway gets 95 per cent of its electricity from hydro while the UK has nuclear energy - both denied to Australia by nature or green-influenced policy.

Green organisations have never faced up to the fact that the costs of shifting from fossil fuels will be higher here than almost anywhere else - all to achieve a virtually undetectable reduction in global emissions of, at most, half a per cent.

Thomas Hogg, East Melbourne

Best use of money?

THORPIE'S failed comeback is a little embarrassing. I wonder if the taxpayer funds used to support his training could have been better spent. As a person with multiple sclerosis, I, and presumably some of the 20,000 Australians with MS, would have preferred this money to have been redirected, such as to research to help find a cure for this debilitating disease.

Julie Pearson, Hawthorn

Much to celebrate

NOTHING could be more contemptible from Tony Abbott. He tastelessly reflects on the Whitlam government when Gough, at an advanced age, is mourning Margaret, ''the love of (his) life''. Mr Abbott, there was a lot right about the Whitlam government, including the establishment of Medicare and the abolition of university fees, enabling generations of underprivileged but meritorious students to gain an education that would otherwise have been denied them.

Bob Thomas, Mitcham

Honourable move

KIRSTEN Blair (Letters, 16/3) says the law that passed last week identifies the Muckaty region as the location for a national repository. This is incorrect. The law only preserves the nomination of land at Muckaty Station to honour an agreement made by the federal government with a group of traditional owners who nominated their land through the Northern Land Council in 2007.

Other owners of land at Muckaty Station are contesting the council's identification of traditional ownership and whether proper consultations occurred, which is their legal right.

The low-level waste will be everything from soil to used laboratory equipment and fire detectors. The intermediate waste will include, for instance, operational waste produced by the manufacture of radioisotopes used in medical treatment.

Martin Ferguson, Minister for Resources and Energy, Canberra

...and another thing

GIVEN that Tony Abbott shrilly demands an election every day, how can Andrew Robb deny scrutiny of the Coalition's costings on the assumption that he has 18 months to get the figures right?

Jon McMillan, Mount Eliza

Politics

I AM surprised Bob Katter does not spend more time in Parliament. I'd have thought the fear of being paired with another man would have him back in Canberra in no time.

Stewart Monckton, Mont Albert

IS THE Craig Thomson saga a precursor to the Coalition giving all employers the right to reject medical certificates from employees?

Phil Alexander, Eltham

AMANDA Vanstone says John Howard's Coalition ''went on to trounce'' Labor in 1998 - where Labor won 51 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. Barely hanging on to power is not a ''trouncing'' in anyone's language.

Giovanni Torre, Inglewood, WA

WHEN is a pledge by oppositions not binding? After they are elected.

Ros Levy, East Bentleigh

JULIA, is going down the gurgler also considered to be ''moving forward''?

Bill Dobell, Sebastopol

WHY is anyone surprised at Tony Abbott's latest of many demonstrations of his small-minded outlook on life?

John Walsh, Watsonia

The state

THE ambos deserve prompt settlement of their pay claims. Best they contact Ted's cousin. He gets results in the flick of the wrist.

John Bye, Elwood

TED, in the immortal words of legendary football coach John Kennedy, ''Do something.''

Alan Wright, Mornington

''SCAM losses double to $85 million'' (The Age, 19/3). Great headline but wrong story. The grandstands have shrunk, and inflated crowd and TV audiences plus ample weekend hotel vacancies make an $85 million loss on F1 as good a bet as Black Caviar.

Clive Davies, Brighton

SOME of the vitriol aimed at Ron Walker is a bit much. His tireless work in bringing the Commonwealth Games here and his promotion of Melbourne through the

car race should not be sneered at.

John Rawson, Briar Hill

Elsewhere

WHO would have thought US Republicans and the Taliban would have something in common: they both show a blatant disregard for women's rights (Comment, 19/3).

Joel Feren, Elwood

BESIDE the great man, there was a great woman. Vale Margaret Whitlam.

Stephen Jeffery, Sandy Bay, Tasmania

BRUCE Petty, all is not lost (19/3). Vietnam and Iraq have taught the armaments industry that perpetual growth really is achievable through perpetual war.

Roger Green, Ferntree Gully

THE Thorpedo may have been torpedoed but this does not diminish his status as Australia's greatest-ever Olympic athlete.